National (U.S.)

"The first large scale U.S. 'clean coal' facility was declared operational Tuesday — by the large energy firm NRG Energy and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp."

"As the Arctic warms faster than any other place on the planet and sea ice declines, there is only one sure way to save polar bears from extinction, the government announced Monday: decisive action on climate change."

"President Obama, writing in the nation's leading science journal, declared that 'the trend toward clean energy is irreversible' regardless of the different policy choices likely to come from his successor."

"Tilikum, the most famous killer whale in the United States, died Friday after a year-long illness and quarter century of performances streaked with violence."

"The Federal Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Volkswagen executive who faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, two people with knowledge of the arrest said on Sunday, marking an escalation of the criminal investigation into the automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scandal."

"New limits for beryllium will save lives and curb illness among foundry workers and those employed in smelting, fabricating and other industries who may be exposed to the cancer-causing metal, OSHA said in a final rule issued Jan. 6."

"Less than a month after the Obama administration announced that it was banning offshore oil and gas production in most of the Arctic, there are signs that a place many conservationists regard as the crown jewel of the Arctic could one day be open for drilling."

"Energy companies and their executives have poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into political action committees run by or supporting President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. And now Pruitt is getting extra help from a new nonprofit that doesn't have to disclose its donors."

"For the second time in less than a month, the Obama administration on Friday took an action that all but shuts the door on drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, denying six permits to companies seeking to use seismic cannons to search for oil under the ocean floor."

"Forecasters expect another half foot of rain to soak central and northern California and the Sierra Nevada mountains through early Tuesday, coming on the heels of powerful storms that walloped the state and other parts of the U.S. west on Sunday."